Wilder says ‘it’s fantastic to see things moving forward’ with east stand development

Jeremy Casey

It’s not just the Cobblers supporters who are excited by the redevelopment of Sixfields getting underway again at long last - the manager and players are pretty happy about it too.

Boss Chris Wilder was glad to see the installation of seats in the east stand underway this week, almost two years since the old structure was pulled down.

Wilder spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon and talked about his relief to see things finally taking shape at Sixfields - and as he did so, a string of Cobblers players emerged from the dressing rooms to have a first look at the improvements.

They all seemed pretty pleased with what they saw, and Wilder said: “We have all been in the same boat, in that we have looked over this side of the ground for far too long and seen concrete.

“It is nice to see a little bit of colour in, some seats in.

“We would have loved for it to have been ready for Friday when we would have packed the supporters into this side of the ground, but hopefully it will be a great occasion a week on Saturday against Notts County.

“We have two big games before then, but hopefully we can go into that Notts County game with a four-sided ground, on a high.”

And he added: “There has been talk about what we are trying to do and what the chairman is trying to do.

“But as always, football people, and supporters who have been in the game a long time, want to see things happening.

“We always said that when we can see people with hard hats on that site and working, that is the day we are moving forward and this is great news for everybody.

“Of course things are fantastic on the pitch at the minute, but the bigger issue is getting this ground ready and up to where it should be.

“It is fantastic to see things moving forward, and even to get it to this stage a lot hard work has been put in by the chairman and the board, and we said things would happen.

“They happened on the pitch in January when we strengthened the squad, and now this (the redevelopment) is getting going, which is great.”

A total 1,924 seats are being installed in the first phase of the redevlopment of the east stand, and the stand will be open to spectators for the last four home games of the season, against Notts County, Bristol Rovers, Crawley Town and Luton Town.